The new cultivar was discovered as a naturally occurring, spontaneous mutation, among a commercial planting of Nephrolepis exaltata var. ‘Fluffy Ruffles,’ unpatented.
It was discovered by the inventor, Jacob Johannes Bijl, a citizen of the Netherlands in June of 2006, at a commercial greenhouse in Zierikzee, The Netherlands. Upon discovery of the interesting mutation, the inventor initiated cultivation in tissue culture. During the summer of 2006, plants of ‘Ariane’ were asexually reproduced in a commercial laboratory in the Netherlands by tissue culture. Subsequently ‘Ariane’ has been reproduced by micro-propagation and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type through several generations.